


Boofriend and Brofriend

by cockabeetle, Kymopoleia



Category: Monster High
Genre: FYI, M/M, and jackson is aro ace but totally up for bro cuddles, deuce asks gigi for a favor, deuce is deuce, holt is a spicy romantic who cries a lot, jackson and deuce are bros, jackson and holt are not that pleased by it, this is so old, you should ask before trying to slit up your bro and his other half
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-22
Updated: 2015-11-22
Packaged: 2018-05-02 21:51:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5264975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cockabeetle/pseuds/cockabeetle, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kymopoleia/pseuds/Kymopoleia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Deuce thought it was funny, how different Holt and Jackson's orders were, even as he ordered his own iced caramel coffee, just like the ones Cleo ordered him when she got him coffee.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Deuce was waiting for Jackson to be finished grabbing his stuff after class, book on the desk and hand tapping on his hip. Finally, he asks. "Hey, Jackson, I want to hang with Holt at some point. Can you pass along the message?"

Jackson looks up, startled. "Uh, sure thing, Deuce. But, why? Why would you wanna hang out with... him?"

"Well, you're my best bro and he's part of you. I know next to nothing about him, you know dude?"

Jackson wrinkles his nose a little, but nods. "Yeah, sure. I'll text him. He'll probably see you next time he's out."

Deuce nods. "Cool, thanks man." He looks up at the door. "You ready to go?"

Jackson tugs out his iCoffin, tapping out a quick message and nodding distractedly. "Yeah, just a sec."

Deuce waits, but also pulls out his own iCoffin to tell Cleo not to wait up, and that he wouldn't be late for lunch.

Jackson smiles at him a little, picking up his bags again and walking toward the door. "I don't know why you want to talk to him, but I'm sure he'd appreciate it."

Deuce mulls over that for a second. "Really? What's going on?"

"Well, nobody talks to him 'less they need a DJ."

Deuce frowns. "Seriously? That's not cool."

Jackson shrugs. "Eh. We're used to it. Nobody but you and Frankie talks to me 'less they want Holt."

"Further evidence of people not being cool, dude. It's like one of Cleo's plagues." He shakes his head.

Jackson shrugs. "The perks of being the resident normie."

"But you're not a normie, that's the thing." Deuce looked at him. "Sure you look like one sometimes, but that doesn't make you any less of a monster."

"I am the normie though. Holt's the only monster here, he even got Dad's fire powers."

"Whatever, we can talk about this later, I have to get to class. Bye Jackson." He waves at him, turning.

Jackson gives him a mock salute, heading off toward Biteology.

~o~

It was a day or so before Holt got back to Deuce, and he offered to hang out at a coffee shop with decent music that always played just low enough not to disturb conversation.

Holt was more than a little confused about Jackson's beast friend wanting to Fang out, but it's still pretty cool. He can dig it. His headphones are hung around his neck, the low beat loud enough to keep him here but not enough to distract from any conversation. He waves at Deuce when he sees the taller monster.

Deuce had been standing near the counter but not in line, and he waves at Holt when he sees him, beckoning him over. He may have memorized Jackson's order a million times over, but he doesn't know Holt's order at all.

Holt grins, and pauses at the counter to order a plain coffee, black, no sugars or cream or anything. He loved bitter and hot things, it seemed like a good idea.

Deuce thought it was funny, how different Holt and Jackson's orders were, even as he ordered his own iced caramel coffee, just like the ones Cleo ordered him when she got him coffee. After the barista took their orders and Deuce's money, Deuce stands next to Holt. "Have any trouble finding the place?"

"Not really, Jackson likes it here, the music's not base-y enough to affect him, and they have his favorite drink."

Deuce glanced at the counter as he replied. "Really? Is the music here enough to keep you around, or are the headphones required?"

"My headphones are a precaution, really. I dunno if the music's enough to keep me here or not."

"Maybe we can test it out some other time, now I'm pumped about us hanging out." He glanced at Holt and smiled.

Holt tilts his head a little. "Uh, why? Do you have a party coming up or something?"

"No, I leave that to Cleo." He furrowed his eyebrows. "I was talking about right now."

"Well okay. Why'd you wanna fang out, then? I'm confused."

"Well, Jackson is my best bro, and you're really close to him, and I know next to nothing about you." Deuce steps forward to grab the coffees and hand Holt's to him.

Holt takes it, nodding a little. "I guess, I just kinda thought Jackson would've mentioned it? Eh. So, what'd'ya wanna talk about? I don't have a gig 'til Friday, and Heath's helping set up."

"I don't know, what do you like?"

"I love making music, especially mix-tapes." He takes a sip of the coffee, sighing. "I'm also a fan of all things hot and or spicy."

Deuce nodded, starting for the usual table. "Okay, guess ice cream and sushi are out of the question for places to go, then." He jokes.

"Hey, I like sweets as much as the next guy. Sushi, not so much." He laughs a little.

"How do you feel about wasabi?" Deuce asked, sitting down at the window table in the back corner of the store.

"It's got a bite to it, don't it? I've never had it, Jackson's kinda touchy about what I eat when I'm in control."

"Why? Is he allergic to something that you aren't?"

Holt shrugs. "Maybe? We don't really communicate that well. Our mom can talk to both her Hyde and Jekyll sides in her head no matter who she is outside, but we aren't there yet."

"What all have you tried doing?" Deuce asks.

"Not very much. Jackson's been avoiding mom a lot too. I guess he wants privacy or something."

Deuce leans back, sipping the coffee."I'm sure he'll loosen up and you'll figure it out soon."

Holt shrugged. "I guess. Anyway, what'd'ya wanna talk about, again? I forgot."

"About you, honestly. What classes do you take again? I remember Jackson mentioning you taking half the schedule but I don't remember which classes that was

"Music Theory, Physical Deaducation, and Music History. PD's kinda boring, but at least I get a soundtrack."

"Okay. Music Theory, do you know Operetta? She has that class."

"Yeah, I have her in Music History, too. She's my beast friend."

Deuce smiles. "She's so nice, I think. To me atleast. Her and Cleo have this huge thing going on, and I wish that Cleo would just talk about her feelings. I don't know if Operetta will feel the same, but it's eating Cleo up."

"Okay, she made me swear not to tell anyone, but we're not on school grounds and it's not like you'll tell anyone else, right? She's totally pining for Cleo, dude."

"Cleo's had a crush on her for two straight years- heh, straighter than she is, dude."

"I dunno how straight Operetta is, but she's been interested for as long as the two of us have been fanging out, ya dig?"

"Yeah dude, I hear you. But would they listen to us if we told them to go for it?"

"Operetta doesn't listen to me when I tell her she's playing in the wrong key. Why would she ever listen to me about something less important?"


	2. party mansters go wild

Deuce had a pounding headache and a sick stomach, and he was shivering from how cold he was. Or, in other words, he was drunk out of his mind and ten minutes from dehydration and hypothermia. He grabs two bottles of water and starts for the DJ's booth, where Holt is, and gets under the desk- it's warmer up here, it has to be. He wishes he had sleeves, but nothing can be done about that other than taking the caps off both water bottles and slowly sipping them, trying to help his liver readjust without throwing up.

Holt was having a flaming good time, there were several different pretty ghouls and boos who came by to drop off a drink and a song suggestion. He'd started off with water, and was pretty sure his current drink was some sort of orange juice and gin mix that tasted deeeee-vine. "Alriiiiight, everybody! Who wants to hear Casta Fierce's newest hit? It's scorching up the charts and spelling its way into our hearts! Yeeahhh!" He presses a few buttons and puts up the special record he'd been given(from the wicked witch of music herself) howling a little in excitement. Was it just him, or was it smokin' in here?

Deuce coughed under the booth when smoke suddenly filled the air, but it wasn't completely bad, so he didn't leave. He does, however, stretch his legs out and hope Holt doesn't trip on them and burn the booth. He couldn't move if he tried right now.

Holt laughs a little hysterically. He mixes Casta's song(which was about to repeat) with one of Catty Noir's. He knows the two fierce competitors might get a little... catty, with him, later, but for now it seems like a great idea. The beats are similar and they pound through him, he might be getting high on it. Or the new drink he'd been handed. Something with Grape juice? And maybe a shot of whiskey?

Deuce smiles a bit at the new song mix, even though his head hurt like hell. Plus, he can see Holt dancing around a bit, and that's really cute.

Holt giggles to himself. He can actually sort of feel how high his body temperature is getting, Maybe he should cut down on the drinks? After this last one, whatever it might be. He steps away from the booth for a second to take it, and listen to the ghoul's suggestion for his next song as he sips. As he pulls the drink away from his mouth, the liquid inside and the cup itself both catch fire. He stares at it in surprise.

More smoke smell. Deuce frowns, closing his eyes. He hums worriedly, hoping everything is alright.

Holt decides after a second to just down the last of the drink. He ignores the terrified gazes of the partiers, and drops the cup into the recycling bin Venus had been kind enough to set up in his booth. As he's walking back to his set up to begin playing the Fright Song, he trips on a wire, letting out a startled curse as he flails.

Deuce groans in pain, sure that his ankle will bruise. Maybe he should have made some indication of his presence under the table.

Holt glances back at the wire, and stops short. It looks like a leg. A leg wearing a very familiar pant-leg and shoe. But it has to be a wire. He is too drunk to be here if he's seeing things. Jackson's gonna kill him for the hangover. "I am so confused..."

"Dude..." Deuce groans back. "Not cool."

"Wh-what? Why's the wire talking??" He's even more confused now.

"Not wire, dude." He leans forward, hands stretching to touch his toes and head now visible.

Holt blinks a few times. "Um. I. I'm confused."

"It's me. Deuce. I was under your table since- since you were still playing Macklegore."

"Oh wow. Uh, I should play something else soon, is the Fright Song down there? I can't remember where I put it. I'd hate to have to play the Jaundice Brothers."

He glances around, and nods, reaching out to grab it and hand it to Holt. His head is starting to pound again, and he's been out of water for a few songs. It's starting to get colder again, which sucks, considering he's in a booth with a fire elemental.

"Thanks, dude." He starts to get up, and frowns. "Hey, you alright? You look a little drier than normal."

"So not freaky, dude. Had way too much to drink and now there's no water and I'm freezing. Is it even possible to get a hangover while you're still drunk?"

"No. It's not really possible. I mean. If anyone could do it it'd be Jackson and me, ya know? Anyway, I'd offer to get you water, but I'm pretty sure it'd be steam by the time I get back..."

Deuce groans. "Can you just hand me a jacket or something? I'm turning stone cold here."

Holt tugs his jacket off, sighing a little as the t-shirt underneath sizzles a little at the much colder air. He hands the slightly smoldering fire-engine red jacket to his other half's beast friend.

Deuce puts it on without hesitation, closing his eyes again and basking in how warm it is around him. "Thanks."

"A-anytime, dude. Wow, okay, time to change the music. One sec." He stands up, pulling the two disks off the turntable, quickly switching one out for the Fright Song. He lets it start up for a minute before mixing it with Operetta's cover of Madison Fear's song. Operetta's sounded better, who knew the Phantom's daughter was better than a siren?

Deuce listened quietly, silently praying for water.

Operetta came up at that point, holding three bottles of water. She hands two to Deuce and gives the third to Holt, who drinks about half before it dissolves into steam. He gives her a salute in thanks.

Deuce smiles at the water bottles now in front of him. "Thanks Operetta." He called, crawling out from under the table.

"Anythin' for you, sugar." She winks, and walks out of the booth. Holt switches out the Fright Song with Miranda Fear's original song, letting the original and Operetta's cover mix for a while.

Deuce sipped the water, then sighed. "So, you get off duty anytime soon?"

Holt shrugged, opening his mouth to answer when a tall ghost phased up from the floor. "You're done here, Hyde. Time for the real master to get to work."

Deuce snorted and stood, swaying. "So, now, I take it?"

Holt nods a little. "Johnny probably wants to cool the booth down, do you need to be anywhere?" Holt self-consciously tugged on the hem of his shirt.

"Not really, but my headache is telling me to go home- oh wait," He chuckles. "Those are the snakes. Anyways, yeah, you want to come with me? I don't want to walk alone. Long walk, not so safe neighborhood."

Holt nods. "Sure thing, dude. Lemme just grab my bag from Daddy-o and we'll be good to go."

Deuce fixes how Holt's jacket is resting on him, and checks his pockets to make sure his icoffin is still on him. It is, but his wallet is missing. He isn't worried, because he's sure that either Cleo or Toralei took it, and if Toralei has it, then it won't be long before Cleo gets it. So, he waits for Holt to walk back. The jacket doesn't exactly fit him, because his shoulders are wider than Holt's, but it's still comfortable and warm and helping to keep him from dying of the cold.

Holt gets his bag and keys feom Operetta's pet spider, who's jamming the air guitar something fierce.

Deuce stands, hands fumbling with the edges of Holt's jacket. "How do you wear this all the time? It's warm on its own, don't you get too hot?"

"Fire elemental, man. I'm good so long as the temperature doesn't drop too low."

"Maybe I should stick closer to you than Clawd," Deuce jokes. "He likes turning the heat on low so that he has an excuse to build nests in his room."

"Yeah. Temperature used to be a trigger, I dunno why it changed."

"Maybe hormones? Maybe your body was like, 'freak you'." He shrugs. "Wanna get going?"

Holt nods. "Lead the way, manster."

Deuce started walking, but close enough to Holt to still feed off his body heat. Seriously, that was doing wonders for him and his headache. He starts to hum along to the music, head half-turned to see both the exit and Holt at the same time.

Holt pulls his headphones out, plugging them into his iCoffin and selecting a playlist to loop.

It takes a few minutes to actually make it out of the dance floor, and then a few more to make it to a place where there's real, clean air. He closes his eyes as soon as he's outside, and even though it's colder out there, it helps to clear his head. "Finally, it stunk in there."

Holt sighs, and just breathes for a second, pressing a button to make his iCoffin thrum to life with the music. "Yeah, Johnny's got interesting tastes, but honestly he doesn't really do it for me, ya know?"

"I get it. Music is rad in general, but on its own, some of the songs fall... Short." He takes a deep breath and hesitates. "Am I swaying too much? I can't tell."

Holt snorts. "Dude, it kinda looks like there's three of you, am I the best monster to ask?"

Deuce turns around and holds out his arm. "Let's try to make it without falling down, dude. Come on."

Holt grabs Deuce's arm, humming. "Okay. Where're we going again?"

"My house, it's close enough that we shouldn't die of alcohol poisoning before then. Dude, my mom would kill me if I died."

"I know the feeling. Mom-Jenny'd probably freak if she saw me, and then Mom-Hedda'd probably either yell or give me a high-five. I'm really not sure. Dad'd probably laugh at us, though."

"Yeah, mom would just stone me to death." Deuce shakes his head.

Holt laughs, swaying a little. "Which way is your house again?"

"This way, dude." He points down the street that they're walking down, chuckling.

Holt giggles. "Okay. Um. What were we talking about again? I'm bad at remembering things."

"It's okay dude, I'm way too drunk to remember things right now. Uh, maybe we were talking about your jacket? It's warm."

"Well yeah. I'm a fire elemental, all my stuff is warm."

"How does that even work? Your stuff, like, isn't actually part of you, is it? Am I in you right now? Because, hate to break it to you, but I don't exactly fit." He grabs the hem of the jacket and tries to pull it across his chest. It does not work.

Holt giggles. "Technically, you're wearing Jackson's vest. It just looks like a smokin' hot-rod-red jacket because that's more my style, ya dig?"

"I don't understand how you two work." Deuce shakes his head.

"Magic."

"But magic is messy and gets all over everything." Deuce complained.

"I dunno what you're talking about. I'm kinda thankful I don't have to wear what Jackson was wearing though. How lame would I look in a sweater vest?"

"You'd still look hot, dude." He rolls his eyes.

"No, I'd look like a dork." Holt corrected. He swayed a little more, shaking his head.

"Nah, you'd look like a hot dork." He rolls his eyes more obviously this time.

"Well obviously. I'm usually over 100 degrees Fahrenheit."

"And your face is aesthetically pleasing. It's equal and your nose is straighter than I am by a long shot, dude."

"W-wait our noise is crooked."

Deuce grins and snaps, pointing at Holt.

"I'm too drunk for this. Also I think your snakes are trying to rip themselves off your head to get to me is there a reason for that?"

"They're in the mood and you're warm." Deuce shrugs, but somehow shrugging messes his feet up, and he stumbles, clinging to Holt.

Holt falls.

Deuce falls with him, and after a dazed second, begins laughing.

Holt laughs, loud and obnoxious.

Deuce pulls them up after a minute, swaying but more stable now. They shouldn't be too far from his house now. He looks around and, oh, wait, they're three houses past it. Huh.

Holt sways and lands on his ass, still giggling.

Deuce may or may not pick him up a bit, slash drag him back to the house.

Holt manages to stand up, after a bit of struggling. Jackson'd kill him if he woke up with roadburn.

Deuce finally makes it inside, and half the lights are on and the other half are chunks of stone. Whoops, looks like mom opened her eyes before coffee again. He shakes his head and heads straight for the stairs, crawling up them rather than even attempt to walk. He's drunk, not stupid.

Holt takes one look at the stairs and makes a pathetic noise.

Deuce stops about halfway up the stairs and backwards-crawls down them, until he is in front of Holt but still facing up. "Get on."

"Uh. Okay." Holt clambers on. "Your shoulders are very nice."

"Thanks dude." Deuce makes it up the stairs in record time, half crawling and half slithering. Then he presses the button, and the Gorgon-proof gate pops out. He presses his face into the carpet, groaning.

Holt glances back at them, head tilted. "What's that?"

"Me-proof."

"Oh. Is it fire-proof?"

"It's everything-proof. Heath, Clawd, and Manny tried to break through, they *failed*."

"Damn. Great. That's a good thing."

"It's the best thing ever. Mom should get a bunch and donate it to the school for them to put on, like, everything."

"Yes."

"Why hasn't she done that yet?" He whines.

"Maybe you should tell her she needs to?"

"But, dude, that would require like, telling my mom to do something. You don't just tell Mom-Dusa to do shit."

"Suggest to her it would keep her baby and the other small ones at the school safe?"

Deuce whines and shakes his head, which makes his glasses fall off. Luckily his eyes are closed. "Wait, shit, dude. Help a bro out?" He picks his head up.

Holt presses a different pair of glasses, a pair of orange shades he had in his pocket, onto Deuce's face. He's too drunk to try and grab Deuce's.

Deuce blinks, his lashes fluttering. At first he's confused. Why is the world orange? And slightly dirty?

Holt blinks. "Oh, that's where Jackson's glasses go when we're me."

"Jackson has glasses?"

"Yes? I think? Does he wear glasses? Do I wear glasses? I am too drunk for this."

"I don't understand???????" Deuce whined.

"We're too drunk for words now. Can we cuddle? I'm gonna cuddle."

"Can we get to my room first? My bed is also everything-proof. The carpet is *not*."

"Okay. Oh, I should make a video for Jackson." He pulls out his iCoffin, messing with it as he crawls toward what he assumes to be Deuce's room.

Deuce crawls ahead of him, because his crawling/slithering skills are so much better.

Holt pauses, setting up the video. "Wait, what do I start with? What're we doing again?"

"My room. My bed. *Now*."

"Ooh, so soon mister Gorgon~?" Holt asked in his best Jackson voice. Because he was who he was, it was perfect.

Deuce turned his head to stare at Holt for a long moment. "Yeah, fuck it. Sure. Wait- I forgot the damn pun."

"Man, fuck puns. Puns are for sober people."

Deuce giggled. *Giggled*.

Holt snorts. "Duuuuuuude. Hey, what's your favorite type of music? I like everythin' but classic. It's never got a good enough beat to summon me."

"I don't have a favorite? Music is music is music is music is music is music is music is-" His head turns towards the upstairs-kitchen. "Cookies. I sense them."

"Oooooh. Spooky~"

He slithered towards the kitchen.

Holt giggled, holding his iCoffin in one hand, which was shooting a very nice video of the ground.

Deuce made it to the kitchen, and in one fluid movement, rose. He was really just on autopilot mode, searching for the cookie dough.

Holt picked up his hand, giggling. "Ooooh, are those chocolates?" He leans over to see the brown candies better.

Deuce makes a small offended noise. "Yes."

"Awesome!!!" Holt screeches. He pops one into his mouth, humming. "Dude, you're the best. We love you."

"Wait- no. I meant no." Deuce stares at him in horror.

"What?" Holt tilts his head in confusion.

"That's snake food."

"Oops."

Deuce starts to laugh, covering his face with his hand. "Dude, oh zeus, what am I gonna do with you?"

Holt giggles. "I dunno. Whatever? I mean, nothing over PG, Jackson'd flip."

Deuce blinks in confusion. "What?"

"What? Did I say something weird?"

"Nah, I'm just trying to remember what PG means."

"Well G is good for kids, PG is Parental advisory needed or something. Its like, the difference between a kiss on the cheek and sloppy make outs."

Deuce hums. "Why aren't sloppy makeouts allowed again?"

"Jackson doesn't want our first sloppy make-out to be done drunk."

"Wait, neither of you have ever sloppily made out with someone?" He leans on the counter, staring at Holt.

"Well like, we might've sort of been dating Frankie-fine for a bit, but nobody else. We've never had make outs."

"Duuuuuuude," Deuce groans. "Sloppy makeouts are the best. And platonic sloppy makeouts are nice, but romantic sloppy makeouts are downright freaky, you feel?"

"Oh I do, my manster. But J-man wants our first to be on his terms, ya know?"

"That's not really fair to you though, it's your body too." Deuce rolls his eyes.

"Well yeah. But we figure since J-man was here first, he should get to have our firsts. The ones he wants, anyway."

"And you were okay with him taking this one? What about you, what ones did you take?"

"I got our first sip of alcohol, our first bender, our first hangover. I'm gonna get our first time with a man, our first threesome, and anything else Jackson doesn't want."

"And what are his firsts?" Deuce asks.

"First kiss, first day(s) of school, first make out, first time with a girl(maybe?), first drive. He also gets first dibs telling mom whenever we mess up." Holt pauses. "Oh, shit," he presses a button on his iCoffin, ending the video. "I should text mom where J and I are."

Deuce waves his hand, letting him do as he pleases. "Okay. Sure, fine. Seems a bit uneven."

"Okay. Um. Why do we have such a tiny screen. Jesus." Holt fiddles with it for a minute. He has all caps on, and his misspelled Deuce's name three times anyway.

Deuce takes the phone and deletes the message, typing out "hey mom, will be staying at deuces, don't wait up" quickly.

Holt's mother replies with a "Who are you?"

Deuce snorts before replying "deuce, holt sucks at typing".

"He didn't melt the screen again, did he?"

"no? should I take his phone for safety reasons"

"If you feel it is necessary." 

Holt has wandered over to one of the cupboards and has found a stash of peppers.

"maybe? he ate some snake food a minute or two ago :/" He glances up. "Do you care that I'm talking to your mom, Dude?"

"Oh lord."

"Oh, are you? I hadn't noticed."

"Yeah dude, she's way nice." He smiled, adding a "he's fine, ma'am" to the conversation.

Holt snorts. "Then she's probably Dr. Jekyll right now. Mom-Jenny."

"Please keep an eye on him."

"I will, ma'am" He accidentally says aloud as he types it out.

Holt tilts his head. "What?"

"Hm?" He asks, looking up at Holt. "Say something?"

"I might be hearing things. Or maybe my music's just acting funky."

Deuce stared at him. "Okay."

"Can we cuddle now?"

Deuce nodded. "Did you actually finish recording the video for Jackson?"

"Uh, I think so?"

"Then cuddling is a go." Deuce grinned.

"Awesome."

Deuce lead the way to his room, kicking off his shoes and pants as he goes (except there's no belt because he thought he'd be getting blackout drunk tonight). By the time he's there, he's in just boxers, a half-undone button down, and Holt's jacket.

Holt decides to shuck off his and Jackson's jeans, so he's in his boxers and t-shirt.

Deuce falls onto his bed, pulling the comforter down so he can roll up towards the top of the bed. And, of course, there aren't any pillows on the bed.

Holt hums, crawling on over and snuggled right up to Deuce. His headphones fall down around his neck, but they're loud enough to keep Holt here for now.

"Want me to put some music on so you don't change in the night?" Deuce mumbled.

"Nah. S'fine. Our iCoffin's fully charged."

"Is it? You spent most of the night up at the booth..."

"I'm pretty sure I plugged it in when I got there, bro. It'll be fine. Sleep now."

Deuce nodded, shifting to loosely wrap an arm around Holt.

Holt hums, snuggling up a bit more. He's asleep in a few minutes.

With how warm everything is, it's no time at all before Deuce is in dreamland.


	3. let the dating begin? this might also be the end

ackson wakes up with a killer headache and the uncomfortable feeling of Holt's headphones trying to choke him.

Deuce's snakes wake up before he does, hissing loudly and bumping both his head and the leather jacket draped over his head, shoulders, and arms. The rest of him is firmly under the covers, but he can feel how rumpled his clothing is from sleeping in it. Not that he was awake, not really, but he could feel it.

Jackson groans softly, tugging the headphones off and grumbling about them. He notices that his vest is missing, and grimaces. His glasses are also missing, which makes trying to figure out where he is rather difficult.

The sound of a groan makes Deuce groan back, wanting to just keep sleeping.

Jackson pauses. He feels like he should know who made that groan, but he's too hungover for that. He pats around for his glasses.

Deuce's snake finally managed to push the jacket off his head a bit, hissing at him and at whoever is in his bed. It's probably Holt, but it could be Jackson or Cleo or Mom.

Jackson squints at the mass in front of him. There's a mass of red that's probably Holt's jacket, which is annoying but not uncommon, and a writhing mass of green. What is... wait. Is he in Deuce's bed? What was Holt doing in Deuce's bed?

Deuce gropes around for some glasses, and finds the orange pair that Holt had lent him. Then he looks blearily around, still not quite awake yet. "Jackson?"

"Okay. Hi, Deuce." Jackson blinks. "Do you know where my glasses are?"

"Uh... Oh, shit. My face. Sorta."

"I thought you needed tinted lenses...?"

"They're orange. Holt's."

"God damn it." Jackson sighs. "I'm gonna be blind until I get home, aren't I?"

"Yeah... Sorry dude. We got really drunk last night."

Jackson nods a little. "Alright. Uh. Wait. He had a gig last night, I didn't know you were gonna be at Operetta's party?"

"Didn't know I'd be there until Cleo dragged me there." He shrugged.

Jackson hums. "Ah, okay. Well. Didn't you want to hang out with Holt, earlier? How did that go?"

"Well? Everything went pretty well." He nodded slowly.

"Good." Jackson finds his iCoffin, and found it dead. Explains why he's here.

Deuce noticed the dead iCoffin, and yawned as he pointed. "You can charge it, dude."

Jackson nods. "Okay." He gets off the bed and squints for a minute before plugging it in. He turns off the music before it can finish loading.

Deuce put his face in the pillows, sighing. "He took a video, last night, I think. In case you want to watch that."

Jackson nods. He taps the screen a few times. The video starts out showing Holt. 'Wait, what do I start with? What're we doing again?'  
Deuce's voice filters in from off screen. 'My room. My bed. *Now*.'  
Holt mimics Jackson's voice to flirt. Jackson snorts.

Deuce barely remembers saying that, so he just hums.

'Man, fuck puns. Puns are for sober people.'  
There was offscreen giggling. Then Holt started a conversation about music that lasted a minute, tops.

Deuce tunes out after a few more seconds, starting to drift back to sleep.

Jackson made horrified noises when Holt ate the snake food.

Deuce hummed tiredly.

Jackson bit his lip at the conversation about firsts. Holt had been the one to suggest the arrangement. He glances at Deuce.

Deuce blinks. "What?"

"...You're not interested, are you? I don't know if Holt was serious last night, but..."

Deuce looks up at him, and he thinks about it. Even if he were, that would mean dating Jackson too... And... He grimaces at the thought of that.

Jackson nods. "Okay. Just making sure."

Deuce blinks again. He hadn't actually replied. "Okay?"

Jackson nods. "Okay. I'm gonna have to get home, mom probably won't like us being late."

Deuce nodded. "Okay, do you want the jacket and the glasses? They won't do you much good, but, atleast you'll have them, right?"

"You can keep the glasses. They'll stay sunglasses until Holt switches into me while wearing them, and I've got plenty of spare glasses at home." He holds his hand out for the jacket, he doesn't like that it's not his vest, but it will have to do.

Deuce hands him the jacket, and immediately shivers. In comparison, his room is cold.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just cold. I'll be fine. Probably take a nap."

"Okay. See you later, dude." Jackson gets up, grabs his pants, and walks out of the room. "What's the thing on the staircase?"

"Oh, just hit the painting on the wall next to it. Don't try to break through."

"Okay...?" Jackson does as told, and the thing disappears.

"Bye dude, walk safely." He calls.

Jackson hums. "See you! Oh hey, your glasses are out here. Make sure not to step on them later."

"I won't!" Deuce crawls under the covers.

Jackson leaves. It takes four hours to walk home. It's a good thing he knows the way, really.

~o~

Deuce sighed. "I don't know what to do, Gigi. I mean, there's no way to separate them, and I don't want to date my best friend."

"Well... I might have a solution for you. Do you wish they were seperate?"

"Kind of. But, aren't you not a genie anymore?"

"I'm still a genie. I just don't have reality-bending powers like I used to. I can grant small wishes, like this one." She claps her hands together. "As you wish."

Deuce blinks. "Wait, seriously? Just like that?"

Gigi swoons a little. That had taken a bit more magic than she'd expected. "Y-yes."  
Which is when the screaming started.

Deuce stood. "Hey, Gigi, I'll be back in a moment- but, seriously, thanks." He smiles at her before taking off- the screams were coming from the catacombs.

Gigi smiles a little breathlessly. 

Jackson had been in the middle of helping Operetta set up some recording equipment during Study Howl, when he'd blacked out.

Holt woke up, at the same time Jackson did. They took one look at each other and screamed.

Deuce makes it in record time, leaning against the doorframe. It takes a few seconds before he realizes what happened. "Wait, it worked?"

"Wh- how are we awake at the same time?!" Holt hasn't noticed anything, too focused on Jackson.

Jackson, to his credit, takes a breath to calm himself and try and figure out what happened. 

"Oh god why is there no music this is sO WEIRD!"

"Wow. Gotta bake Gigi something." Deuce says. "Shit."

Operetta noticed Deuce's mumblings and tuts at him.

Jackson reaches over to pat Holt to make him shut up. The fire elemental instead goes in for a hug.

Deuce looks up at Operetta and nodded.

She raises an eyebrow. "What'd you do, sugar?" She whispers.

Jackson pats Holt again, frowning. He pauses, and moves Holt's face back a little. "Hey, where's our eyebrow piercing?"

"I complained to Gigi and she did something about it?" He looked between Jackson and Holt.

Holt pulls back. He pats his own face, tugging his shirt open to glance down it. "My tattoos!" He pulls out his tongue a bit, before letting go. "My piercings!"

Deuce winces. "Sorry Holt, sorry Jackson."

Jackson looks up at him, startled. "Oh, uh, hi, Deuce."

"We got the tongue one yesterday! I just got used to it!!"

"Sorry, this is my fault, dudes."

Holt looks up at him from where he's sort of curled into Jackson. "What'd you *do*?"

Jackson nods a little.

"Talked to Gigi?"

Jackson frowns. "Who?"

Holt blinks. "Wait, was she the genie? The one the youngest wolf had for a while?"

"Yeah. I complained to her about- well, the situation, and then she used her magic to grant me a favor? But she also looked pretty sick after, I should really go check on her."

Holt grimaces. Jackson stares up at him for a moment. "What situation were you complaining about?" 

Operetta waves a hand. "I'll go check on her, you idiots should talk it out."

"Uh, my crush on Holt and confusion on how to deal with it?"

Holt blinks. Jackson pulls his glasses off. "Pardon?"

Deuce coughs. "Yeah, I realized it a few days ago but it probably started when he spent the night after the party, you remember when that happened?"

Both of them nod, glancing at each other.

Holt tilts his head a little. "We thought you were straight? Or at least not interested in us."

Deuce starts laughing. It takes a minute or two for him to stop, shaking his head. "I'm not straight. But, yeah, I am interested, dude."

Holt nodded. Jackson ran a hand through his hair. "This is weird."

"I'm sorry." Deuce sighed. "Should I have told her not to do it?"

"Yes." They answered immediately.

He winces. "Sorry. I just, I don't know what I thought would happen."

Jackson waves a hand. "It's okay. We'll just... ask her to fix it as soon as she can."

"I thought you two hated being together?" Deuce asks.

"What? No." Jackson stared at him in horror.

Holt shook his head. "We didn't like the way we found out or why we needed to find out, but it feels *wrong* not to be together."

"Oh. I guess I misunderstood the problem. I hope Gigi won't be upset, and I hope you two don't hate me."

Holt and Jackson nod. "You're my beast friend, Deuce. Couldn't hate you if I tried." Jackson grins.

Holt just smiles a little, nodding.

"Oh." Deuce blinks, leaning more heavily on the door. "Huh."

Operetta comes back, wiping her hands on her pants. "Gigi passed out. Before she did she said she wouldn't be able to do magic like that again for another month at least."

Deuce winced. "I hope she's okay."

"She's in the infirmary. The nurse said she'll be fine, she's just exhausted."

Holt clings to Jackson a little.

Deuce glanced at Holt and Jackson. "I'm literally the worst friend ever, aren't I?"

"You didn't understand and were trying to help." Jackson defends.

"Yeah. Just, next time, ask."

"I really shouldn't have complaining to her, we were supposed to be working on a project."

"It's okay, don't beat yourself up." Holt admonished. Jackson nods a little.

"No seriously, the project is due twenty minutes ago." Deuce crosses his arms. "We're screwed."

Holt snorted. "You're screwed."

~o~

Deuce felt kind of awkward about being paired with Holt instead of Cleo, but they were being separated by ghouls and boos, so Holt would have to do. Deuce rubs the back of his neck, standing next to him. "So, you know what we're supposed to be doing?"

"Uh, I was hoping you did. I was listening to my tunes."

"I wasn't paying attention after they said I wouldn't be able to be partners with Cleo."

Holt winces. "Well, we're screwed."

"Well, we could just walk up on the second level and avoid doing it." He points up. "Maybe talk... About stuff."

"Okay." Holt pulls his headphones down around his neck, beat thumping through him.

Deuce heads for the stairs, only stopping when he's at the top.

Holt follows him, fingers drumming on his leg. He makes eye-contact with Jackson, who gives him a frown.

"So, we probably have to talk about the thing." Deuce begins.

"Which thing?"

"The uh, crush on you thing." Deuce looks out at Cleo as he walks.

Cleo glances at him and nods once. 

Holt thinks a second. "Oh yeah, that. Well, Jackson's kinda uncomfortable..."

Deuce rubs the back of his neck. "Yeah. What about you?"

"To be honest I've been interested since... do you remember when we got drunk after Operetta's party?"

Deuce looked at him, a chuckle bubbling up. "Seriously?"

"Yeah?" Holt looks up at him.

"That's when my crush started too. I didn't realize it that night, but that's when it started."

"Same." Holt laughs.

Deuce smiles "What do you want to do with our crushes?"

"Well like, even if we aren't in the same body now Jackson and I are still the same. We need his opinion."

"Oh. If we get together, would I also be with him?" Deuce asks.

"Sort of? He's been thinking and we think he might be asexual. Sort of."

"I guess I can see it. He might be demi, though."

"Yeah." Holt nods. "And like, we'll see how he feels about dating."

"Why don't we all go to my place after class, I'll bake and everything will be chill."

"Yessss." Holt grins. He makes eye contact with Jackson, who raises his eyebrows.

Deuce texts Cleo that their evening plans have to be cut short, that he's actually going to figure stuff out with Holt and Jackson. Her response is an immediate 'finally'.

Holt cuts a glance at Deuce, before raising his eyebrows at Jackson. Jackson rolls his eyes, but nods.

"So, your end good?" Deuce asks.

"We're good." Holt grins.

Deuce nods, looking over at Holt. "Maybe this will all work out."

"I hope so, it'd be nice. Hey, do you know where Frankie-fine and the Wolf clan are?"

"Scaris, they're there for a family reunion. Frankie and Clawdeen have texted me about it, and Howleen has been posting some very impressive selfies on ScareChat."

"Oh, cool." Holt nods. "J-man and I need to talk to her at some point."

"Oh yeah, wasn't she the first choice?"

"Eh. I don't know about Jackson. She was the first and last ghoul I've been interested in. Operetta's an entire different ballpark."

Deuce glanced over. "Operetta?"

"We went on a date to a concert once. Didn't go well, but god if she isn't attractive."

"So, what does that add up to?"

"She scares me but if she asked I'd do anything."

Deuce nodded, looking downstairs at Cleo. "I get that."

Holt nods. "Okay. So, uh. What else you wanna talk about?"

"I don't know, dude. What do you want to talk about?"

Holt shrugs. "Uh..."

"If we were together, how would that work?" Deuce asks.

"Well, we like hanging out, right? It'd be basically the same but with an additional okay to kiss and make out and stuff."

Deuce rubbed the back of his neck again. "That sounds nice."

"I know right? Cuddling is also a go, though that was actually pretty okay before dating was a thing."

Deuce grinned. "Yeah, but how do you ask for cuddles, dude?"

"Me? 'Can we cuddle? We're gonna cuddle'."

"Nah, I mean, how do I ask for cuddles?"

"You can do the verbal 'can we?' or the nonverbal hug. Either works, at least with J-man and me."

Deuce nods. "Okay, I'll try it sometime."

Holt grins. "Good luck."

"Hopefully you'll get the memo, dude."

"I'll be waiting? Hey, PD's done, we should head to the lockers to change. J-man and I'll need to."

Deuce hops over the rail, landing on the first floor. "After you."

Holt follows suit with a whoop.

Deuce heads for the lockers, holding each door open for Holt. It's half because he likes him and half because that's what he usually does.

Holt grins, giving him a wink as he passes. Jackson throws Holt's shirt at him once he's close enough, followed by his jacket.

Deuce changes quickly, making sure he has his keys and wallet and phone. He's kind of getting excited.

Holt and Jackson get changed pretty quickly. They have to switch pants, once Jackson notices the ones he's wearing have the flame decal.

Deuce waits for Jackson and Holt at the door of the locker room, texting Cleo.

Holt grabs Jackson by the wrist, who allows himself to be dragged. They stop just behind Deuce, and the fire elemental grins. "Lead the way!"

Deuce nods, heading for the student parking lot. When he gets to his car, he glances between them. "Sorry, someone's gonna have to sit in the back."

Jackson raises his hand.

Deuce opens the door for him, smiling. "Thanks, man."

Jackson nods, smiling slightly. Holt bounces on his toes, excited.

Deuce gets in the driver's seat, leaning over to open the door for Holt. "Do you guys want me to bake cookies, pies, what?"

"We both like cookies, man. I love snicker- er, *shrieker* doodles, and J-man likes sugar spookies."

"Got it, I'll make a few batches." Deuce smiles.

Holt fist pumps. "Awesome!"

Deuce laughs, rolling his eyes. "Anyways, dude, Jackson, you okay?"

Jackson hums, flipping a page in the book he'd brought. He had the earplugs Holt had given him in his pocket for later.

"Are you okay with the feelings aspect of this?"

Jackson glances up at him. "Holt likes you, you like Holt. We're friends. Is there a problem I don't know about?"

Deuce shook his head. "I'm just a bit worried about you. Will it be weird between us?"

"Probably not? So long as we don't push for things too much, or too soon, we'll be fine."

Deuce nodded. "So we'll be good then? I'm glad to hear that, dude."

"'Course." Jackson nods to himself, and goes back to his book.

Holt has started playing Angry Ghouls on their iCoffin.

Deuce makes a left into their neighborhood, and then a right onto his street.

Holt hums to himself. Jackson taps his fingers on the book's cover.

It takes a while to make it past Cleo's house, but then they're at the end of the road, and then they're at the comparatively humble greek-styled house. Well, more roman actually. Still, it's cozy and tall and warm. "Home sweet home."

Holt glances up, and bounces a little. Jackson unbuckles and gets out of the car.

Deuce gets out and heads for the front door, unlocking it. As expected, Mom isn't home yet.

Holt follows, and Jackson closes his book.

Deuce stays downstairs, because this is the bigger kitchen, and starts to get out the pots and pans.

Holt sits down on a counter, playing Angry Ghouls. Jackson leans against the same counter to read.

"Which one do you want out first?"

Jackson nods at Holt, who bounces a little. "Shrieker doodles!"

Deuce laughs. "Alright, want to help me?"

Jackson closes his book, and walks over. "Sure."

"Get the milk, eggs, and peanut butter from the fridge."

Jackson places the book next to Holt's knee. He pulls the milk and eggs from the fridge. Peanut butter is kept in the pantry.

Deuce takes the milk and eggs, and goes to grab the flour and butter. "Mom always puts the peanut butter in the fridge, please grab it from the fridge."

Jackson looks in the fridge again. Oh, there it is, hidden behind some sort of juice. He holds it up for confirmation.

Deuce nods. "Thank you."

Jackson hums, nodding. "Anytime."

"Can you also grab the sugar, salt, and baking powder?"

"Of course." Jackson finds and pulls the listed items out, placing them next to the milk, eggs, and peanut butter.

Deuce begins to mix things together, humming as he goes. "So, if no one has any problems... We start dating?"

"Yes?" Jackson offers. Holt nods encouragingly.

Deuce nods. "Alright."


End file.
